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Stock Cars Make Their Debut
In Japan to Mixed Results

By

Valerie ReitmanStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Nov. 28, 1996 5:57 p.m. ET

TOKYO -- It's only a slight exaggeration to say that the two dozen multicolored, logo-sporting Thunderbirds and Camaros that roared through the city of Suzuka, Japan, last weekend represented the largest collection of American metal ever assembled on a Japanese roadway.

Nascar -- with its macho cars and bellowing engines representing all things big and American -- made its debut last weekend in Japan, a country that reveres the refinement of European-style Formula One racing, prefers conservatively cut, immaculately groomed cars and eschews American autos.

'Different Ballgame'

So while promoters for Nascar (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) revved up the hype for "America's Ultimate Motor Sport," the Japanese weren't sure just what to make of these gussied-up Big Three gas-guzzlers. Most major Japanese newspapers and sports publications snubbed the "Thunder Special 100" race entirely. Some who did cover it were dubious. "Nascar is a different ballgame altogether," said auto writer Jack Yamaguchi, who doubts the sport will ever catch on here. "You see some Chevys and Pontiacs in Japan -- but not very often."

Even the four Japanese ringers thrown into the race to drum up hometown support seemed a bit bewildered by it all. Hideo Fukuyama -- a 41-year-old touring and Formula One pro -- had never seen a stock-car race before catching a total of just 30 practice laps and belting himself into a Thunderbird for the start of Sunday's race.

Despite an air of unfamiliarity, the race ultimately did draw 36,000 to this track here in the boonies of central Japan, including many families. They paid $70 apiece to politely cheer their countrymen, as well as American stars like Dale Earnhardt.

That's still only about two-thirds the capacity crowd that a Formula One race normally draws in Japan, but not a bad start, considering most folks here haven't a clue about nor appreciation for the hillbilly sport born when Carolina moonshiners tried to outrun tax men in the 1940s.

IndyCar Is Also on the Way

Nascar clearly won some admirers, which will help boost the two other races it has booked for Japan in the next two years. Some spectators found the action enhanced by the technological limits Nascar puts on its cars, which are meant to make races more a contest of drivers and pit crews than of engines.

"In European-type motor sports or Formula One, the machines and tires were developed to the best level so the cars can run faster," says Mr. Fukuyama. In a bit of a back-handed compliment, he adds: "But in Nascar, cars do not adopt the best engines or tires so the race result depends only on the driver's skill. You can't win the race because of the best tires or engines. ... We're all the same."

Osamu Kobayashi, the president of a $350 million Disneyland-style motor-sports complex that
Honda Motor Co.
is building north of Tokyo, offered a simpler observation: "If you compare Nascar to other sports, it's like a contact-sport like wrestling or roller-derby."

Mr. Kobayashi has just lined up another American-type of racing to begin in 1998 in Japan: IndyCar. But stock-car racing, with its barrel-down-the-straightaway allure, has more potential crowd-appeal than the more-refined open-wheel genre, he thinks, and he wants to hold Nascar races at the new racing complex as well.

Selling American Cars

Nascar racing also may serve another purpose in Japan: helping to expand the paltry sales of American cars while influencing the tastes of Japanese customers. "About 25 or 26 years ago, I longed for a Ford Thunderbird," said Keiichi Takahashi, one of the Japanese racers. "I believe this race is going to be a big advertisement for American cars and I believe those that already drive American cars will be very happy to see the race."

The event may get more attention when the delayed broadcast of the Suzuka race airs this weekend on Japanese television, despite Japanese racers' poor showings. Only Mr. Takahashi's team finished, placing 15th in the 100-lap race, far behind winner Rusty Wallace's Ford Thunderbird. Mr. Fukuyama -- dubbed "Joe" by his American rivals because of his resemblance to the Joe Camel ad character -- totaled his "Camel-Powered" Ford Thunder bird with just 11 laps remaining. He escaped unscathed.

But he's inspired to try again. "The whole circuit was like America," he said afterward, citing fans waving flags at the start of the race. "If Nascar is the black sheep of racing in Japan, then I will be the missionary" to try to change its status.

Stock Cars Make Their Debut
In Japan to Mixed Results

TOKYO -- It's only a slight exaggeration to say that the two dozen multicolored, logo-sporting Thunderbirds and Camaros that roared through the city of Suzuka, Japan, last weekend represented the largest collection of American metal ever assembled on a Japanese roadway.